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<blockquote data-quote="captainspud" data-source="post: 5351463" data-attributes="member: 94481">The DMG clearly explains that the XP value for an encounter's worth of bad guys is for eliminating the problem, which does NOT necessarily mean &quot;killing everything&quot;. Creating a clever diversion to make the problem go away is just as effective a solution as killing the bad guys, so it's worth full XP.You have to think of the encounters and XP in a realistic manner: the heroes aren't actually accruing knowledge and experience in the form of discrete points in exchange for bad guys slain. Rather, the heroes have an objective (Duke Bigbaddinus at the top of the evil tower), and there are obstacles in their way (zombies, kobolds, and dragons). Those obstacles aren't the point of the excercise; the point is the Duke, and any action that gets the heroes closer to that objective is worth XP. This is why I wouldn't award any XP if my heroes decided to &quot;level grind&quot; by walking into the woods and killing bears; that action doesn't accomplish a damned thing toward any meaningful goal.So, yeah. Don't punish your players for nonviolent solutions. If their solution eliminates the problem, then they earned their XP. Simple as that.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="captainspud, post: 5351463, member: 94481"] The DMG clearly explains that the XP value for an encounter's worth of bad guys is for eliminating the problem, which does NOT necessarily mean "killing everything". Creating a clever diversion to make the problem go away is just as effective a solution as killing the bad guys, so it's worth full XP. You have to think of the encounters and XP in a realistic manner: the heroes aren't actually accruing knowledge and experience in the form of discrete points in exchange for bad guys slain. Rather, the heroes have an objective (Duke Bigbaddinus at the top of the evil tower), and there are obstacles in their way (zombies, kobolds, and dragons). Those obstacles aren't the point of the excercise; the point is the Duke, and any action that gets the heroes closer to that objective is worth XP. This is why I wouldn't award any XP if my heroes decided to "level grind" by walking into the woods and killing bears; that action doesn't [I]accomplish[/I] a damned thing toward any meaningful goal. So, yeah. Don't punish your players for nonviolent solutions. If their solution eliminates the problem, then they earned their XP. Simple as that. [/QUOTE]

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